Please Draft a response to another students Discussion Board Post. Here is the student's post you are
replying to:
Introduction
As the world of healthcare informatics, ehealth, and electronic health records (EHR)/private health
records (PHR) continue to become more popular and widely used, we need guidelines and extra tools to
keep our information secure and private. Braunstein (2014) states that security of patient’s data is a
significant and legitimate patient concern with an “85% of patients expressing their concern for the
privacy and concern for their digital information” (p. 81). Kumar & Wambugu (2016) also argues that
“with rapid proliferation of EHRs, protecting and securing patient health information has become an
important priority for healthcare providers” (p. 2). When working in any department of healthcare, you
have to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that you will not disclose any patient information with
anyone before beginning your career! As healthcare providers we are being trusted by our patients not
to disclose any of their information. In a 2020 poll, “Americans rated nurses’ honestly and ethical
standards as “high” or “very high”, coming in even higher than 2019” (Gaines, 2021, para. 2). Physicians
and Pharmacists were the next in line for the most trusted profession. It is important as healthcare
professionals to respect patients and their personal information.
Virginia’s Participation in HISPC
Virginia currently participates in Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC). “The
VA’s HISPC is a state and federally sponsored, multi-year, public-private organization whose primary
mission is to develop tools, services and support to resolve privacy and security interoperability issues
between health information organizations in the Commonwealth” (Dept. of Medical Assistance Services,
2009, p. 3). The goal of the HISPC is to establish compromised solutions between the states and across
the nation (Dept. of Medical Assistance Services, 2009). The Department of Medical Assistance
Services hopes that the HISPC will help the concerns and fears among prescribing providers/private
collaborative relationship. In the textbook it states that the patients’ health records and personal
information is an obligatory role of the healthcare professionals (Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016).
Importance of HISPC
The importance of the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration is to bring states together
to address any major privacy and security issues vital to the successful implementation of healthcare
technology and health information exchange (Dept. of Medical Assistance Services, 2009). Privacy
refers to individuals’ rights to control the access to their personal information. According to the HIPPA
Privacy Rule, “it protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information” (Kumar & Wambugu,
2016, p. 3) Security is the protection measures and tools that help individual’s information from being
accessed so easily.
Conclusion/Biblical Integration
To summarize, technology provides challenges and opportunities to transform healthcare. Healthcare IT
supports those who provide direct care by advocating for effective practice through appropriate
technology (Nelson & Parker, 2019). As healthcare professionals we need to respect our patients and
their personal information, while they trust us, there is always that feeling in the back of your mind
whether or not your information will get out. HISPC helps the country to come together to help keep our
